Rate My Professor Lara Bryfonski

Lara Bryfonski is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, where she serves as Concentration Head for Applied Linguistics and Director of LING-001. She completed her Ph.D. in Linguistics at Georgetown University in 2019, with a dissertation titled "Task-based Teacher Training: Implementation and Evaluation in Honduran Bilingual Schools." Bryfonski also holds an M.A. in Linguistics from Georgetown University and a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics and Bilingual Education from Boston University. Her research centers on applied linguistics and second language acquisition, focusing on task-based language teaching, language teacher training, interaction and corrective feedback, individual differences in second language learning, study abroad contexts, and research methods including meta-analysis. She directs the Lab for SLA and Task-Based Research, which features eye-tracking technology for precise investigations into language processing.

Bryfonski has authored and co-authored numerous influential publications. Her book, co-written with Alison Mackey, "The Art and Science of Language Teaching" (Cambridge University Press, 2023), explores effective pedagogy in language instruction. Key articles include "TBLT Implementation and Evaluation: A Meta-Analysis" (Language Teaching Research, 2019, with T. H. McKay), "Research Methods for IDs and TBLT: A Substantive and Methodological Review" (Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2024, with Y. Ku and A. Mackey), "Technology-Mediated TBLT: A Meta-Analysis" (CALICO, 2025, with N. Ziegler and M. Montee), and "From task-based training to task-based instruction: Novice language teachers' experiences and perspectives" (Language Teaching Research, 2021). A co-authored paper, "A call for cautious interpretation of meta-analytic reviews" (Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2020, with F. Boers et al.), received the Albert Valdman Award. She has contributed chapters to edited volumes such as the Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching (2021) and the Routledge Handbook of Study Abroad Research and Practice (2018), and provides invited reviews for journals including ELT Journal and TESOL Quarterly. With over 700 citations on Google Scholar, her scholarship shapes task-based approaches and teacher education in applied linguistics. Bryfonski teaches courses on these topics, advises graduate and undergraduate students, and received the TIRF Doctoral Dissertation Grant in 2018. She was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.